Southern Indiana nonprofit now working on the ground in Thailand, where earthquake killed thousands (2025)

INDIANA, USA — A southern Indiana-based nonprofit has sent two people to Thailand in response to the recent earthquakes. New Life International is based in Clark County but does mission work around the world.

Last week, two representatives packed up supplies and took off for Thailand, traveling to the Myanmar border. Myanmar and parts of Thailand were hit with a 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28th. More than 3,600 people were killed, more than 5,000 are hurt and several hundred are still missing.

Mark Estes and Steven Uhde said they have not been able to get visas into Myanmar, so they are working with church groups willing to risk their safety to come over the border and take supplies and training back with them.

“What we are seeing now is people that are desperately in need of help. We've learned of communities that now, two weeks after the earthquake, have still had no assistance, no aid provided to them whatsoever, simply because of their remoteness, perhaps because of their ethnicity,” Estes said.

New Life International is known for an innovative water filtration system that produces chlorine from simple table salt to disinfect water, making it safe for drinking. The technology is lightweight, cost-effective and simple to transport even in the harshest conditions.

Uhde said in Myanmar they are seeing both extreme injuries, and lack of access to necessities such as clean drinking water. “We have the combination of both going on here, so it becomes a struggle just to stay alive, just to survive,” he said.

Right now, Estes and Uhde are focused on what they’re calling phase one, which includes training people on the water filtration system and on wound care and then sending them back to the areas that Estes and Uhde cannot get to without a visa.

Estes said, “Steven and I can't get into the country, we're talking to you from Thailand. Right now, the government has shut down visas for the short term. They will not allow foreigners into the earthquake impact zone”.

So, they are doing what they can from miles away and working with other mission groups to try to maximize impact. “We're seeing are organizations like us that are trying to figure out how, instead of working independently, to collaborate, to work together, to leverage resources and relationships on the Myanmar side of the border, as well as here in Thailand, where it's a little bit easier to access.”

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